Instructor Bios

Gabrielle Cohen

Yoga Instructor

A dancer all her life, Gabrielle believes in movement as a means for calming the mind and enlivening the spirit. Through her daily practice of yoga Gabrielle has embarked on the path towards healing her own suffering, believing that yoga opens the door to transformation. Her classes are a playful offering of her passion for peace and an invitation to step out of the world and inside yourself.

Gail Gurewitz

Yoga Instructor

Gail Rosenheim Gurewitz fell in love with movement as a young child when she began studying gymnastics and ballet. Becoming a professional dancer at 15, she performed as a soloist throughout the United States and internationally with world-renowned ballet companies, including San Francisco Ballet. During her career, while recovering from injuries, she discovered the benefits of yoga, embarking on a practice which she has cultivated for nearly 20 years. Gurewitz has a B.A. degree in Exercise Physiology, Sports Medicine / the Performing Arts, is a certified Pilates instructor, and has immersed herself throughout her lifetime in numerous forms of dance, meditation, and yoga. She has taught dance, yoga and movement in Chicago, San Francisco, and at retreats and workshops at the Russian River and at Esalen.

Currently influenced by Anusara Yoga, Gurewitz brings to her teaching her life-long passion for movement and yoga as a means for growth, healing, and consciousness. She attempts to foster the expansion of our capacities for a deeper sense of presence, mindfulness, and joyful expression through merging specific physical instruction with the interplay of life-energy as it dances through each of us.

Jenny Levy

Pilates Mat Instructor

- Certified Personal Trainer, American Council on Exercise (ACE)
- Bachelor of Science, Government, U.S. Coast Guard Academy
- Bachelor of Science, Child Development and Psychology, Cal Poly State University - San Luis Obispo

Jenny has been teaching the 5th grade for six years. At the same time, she has always been interested in leading a healthy lifestyle through eating right and exercise. She was inspired to further this passion by becoming a personal trainer. Dedicated to helping people realize and reach their fitness goals, she enjoys working collaboratively to create individualized plans to meet the needs of all people.

Jenny will motivate you through a functional training workout to increase endurance, build strength, and correct muscle imbalances. She is committed to expanding her knowledge in fitness and incorporating new and better techniques into your workouts.

Jessica Archer

Yoga Instructor

Jessica began her journey into the depths of yoga in 1997, and continues to find new twists and turns on the path each day!  She hopes to offer her students the possibilities of limitless expansion in their bodies, hearts and lives, along with the choice to connect to their own truth and potential in every moment.  She teaches playful, challenging classes with a focus on alignment, breath and connection to one’s own heart.

Jessica is a certified Hatha Yoga Instructor (RYT), whose classes are wildly inspired by her studies and training in Anusara Yoga.  She is currently on the long path towards Anusara certification.  She offers deep gratitude to all of her teachers - past, present and future.  For more information about Jessica, visit www.truthloveyoga.com.

Kitty Costello

Chi Gung Si Po (feminine form of "Master")

Kitty Costello began her mind-body studies in the late 1970's with a Buddhist martial arts practice, Shaolin Ssu, a direct lineage from the Shaolin temples in China.  She has a 5th degree blackbelt and has been granted the title of Si Po (the feminine of Master) by her teacher, Grandmaster George Ming Esteban of the Shaolin Temple Institute.

Kitty has taught beginner and intermediate levels in the Chi Gung training of breath and internal energy.  With a Master's degree in Social Clinical Psychology, she has been working as a psychotherapist since 1994, and was licensed as a Marriage Family therapist in 2001. She has incorporated a Western science-oriented approach into her work through the study of biofeedback and psychophysiology, as well as the learning and teaching of various Western relaxation, visualization and self-regulation techniques.  

Kitty has studied and taught Kwan Ping Tai Chi and various other chi gung practices, and she integrates these into her own unique blend in her classes. Over the past decade, her practice and teaching have been grounded in Insight Meditation, bringing deep mindfulness to meditative movement practices and to psychological inquiry.  Moment-to-moment awareness of mind and body are an essential aspect of what she offers to her students and clients.

Laura Oswald

Pilates Mat Instructor

- Certified Personal Trainer, National Personal Training Institute (NPTI)
- Certified Group Fitness Instructor, Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA)
- Certified Mat Pilates Teacher, Body In Flow Pilates
- Bachelor of Arts, Cultural Anthropology and Studio Art, Wheaton College, MA

Laura is committed to promoting a healthy and active lifestyle.  That includes a balance between training hard, working hard, eating right and remembering to relax and enjoy life every day.  She has extensive experience in sports conditioning and training.  She was an All American on the Wheaton College Field Hockey team, and is the Coach of the San Francisco University High School Field Hockey team.

Laura is certified in mat pilates, she teaches outdoor boot camps, and is an avid biker and runner. Her sports background lends itself to her intense and efficient training style.  She will safely guide you through functional training methods coupled with plyometrics and pilates. She will motivate and excite you into transforming your body and improving your health.  Laura believes, "It is important to have fun while getting fit.  What's the point if you can't enjoy it?"

Leslie Goldman

Pilates Mat Instructor

- Certified Personal Trainer, National Personal Training Institute (NPTI)
- Certified Group Fitness Instructor, Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA)
- Certified Mat Pilates Teacher, Body In Flow Pilates

Leslie's passion and excitement for health and fitness is extremely contagious.  Born in Hawaii, she has spent her life bouncing between Oahu, Northern California, Aspen, Michigan, Manhattan, and Italy before happily settling down in San Francisco.  She earned her BA in classical voice from the Manhattan School of Music.  Along with music, weight management, health, and fitness have always been a focus of her energies.  She thrives in motivating and inspiring people with an enthusiastic push to help her clients achieve their fitness goals.

Leslie is certified by the National Personal Training Institute as well as in Spin and Mat Pilates.  Her training style incorporates functional and practical methods with high energy circuit training and an emphasis on core stability.  She is not afraid to push you to your limits in a safe and fun manner.

Rachel Lanzerotti

Yoga Teacher

Rachel Lanzerotti, MSW, RYT, is certified in Hatha Yoga, Restorative Yoga, and Yin/Yang approaches, and trained in MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) as well as iRest® Level I.

Rachel teaches personalized restorative, therapeutic, and mindful yoga. She particularly likes teaching people who might not do yoga otherwise, because that was how she started out.

A graduate of Spirit Rock’s Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation Training Program, The Yoga Loft’s Teacher Training Proram, and Advanced Relax & Renew® Restorative Yoga Training, Rachel also holds a Master of Social Work (MSW) from SF State University and a BA, in Human Biology and Feminist Studies, from Stanford University.

In addition to her private practice with Five Rivers Yoga, Rachel is a Restorative Yoga Instructor for PRYSMS (Practicing Restorative Yoga and Stretching for the Metabolic Syndrome), an NIH-sponsored study through the University of California, San Francisco and San Diego. She also is a Mindful Breathing Instructor for Project Inspire, a study of Mindful Breathing with UCSF’s Osher Center for Integrative Medicine.

Trane West

Yoga Instructor

Although the path to Trane's yoga practice and teaching was a long and winding road, as most journeys of the soul are, the pot of gold at the end was completely worth every step.  Teaching yoga has given Trane a creative outlet and a special place to share his interpretation of yoga with others.  Opening your mind to seeing things differently, allowing your body to move intuitively, and being in the now are all very integral components to his teaching style.

Trane believes in laughter, open dialogue, respect for all, and sharing.  His philosophy is simple: There is no right or wrong in your practice as long as you listen to your own body because everybody is different.